At the beginning of a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution yesterday, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) noted that there are plenty of challenges that warrant the chamber’s time.
“As a nation, we are facing many pressing and problematic issues at this very moment — the war in Iraq, devastation from flooding and hurricanes, record-high fuel prices, the threat of a flu pandemic, and a burgeoning national debt, to name just a few. This Committee is seeking to conduct expedited proceedings on President Bush’s nominee to succeed Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the United States Supreme Court. Perhaps as a distraction from these important matters, we now are asked to again turn to a divisive measure that will contribute nothing to rebuilding the homes that have been destroyed or saving the lives that are threatened or jumpstarting the economy.”
And what, pray tell, was this “divisive measure”? The Federal Marriage Amendment, which hasn’t drawn a moment’s attention in months, was the subject of a multi-hour hearing yesterday on the Hill. As my friend Zoe Kentucky put it, “[I]n the middle of all that is failing and falling down around them, the GOP still has time to discuss the dire emergency that is posed by the idea of gays and lesbians getting legally married. (Look no further than Massachusetts, it’s the poster child for anarchy and lawlessness. Notice how it’s crumbling?)”
There’s just no reason for this FMA nonsense. The amendment can’t get the support it needs to pass and even Bush has indicated he has no plans to invest time and political capital in an amendment that will inevitably fail.
It’s possible, I suppose, that this is some kind of attempt to make the base happy, now that Bush has angered them with Harriet Miers, but even that doesn’t make sense. The only folks who are still worked up about the FMA are the Dobson/Robertson/Falwell crowd, and they’re all supporting Miers.
Instead, this is just a ridiculous display from GOP Senate leaders who can think of no better use of lawmakers’ time. How sad. Maybe this would be a good time for Republicans to remind us again how Dems are the ones with no new ideas.